Politics

Read about the latest UK political news, views and analysis.

Monday

Roger Awan-Scully

The humiliating end to Leanne Wood’s Plaid Cymru leadership | 1 October 2018

‘The morning had been golden; the noontide was bronze; and the evening lead.’ So said Churchill about the career of Lord Curzon. But these words could also summarise the leadership of Plaid Cymru by Leanne Wood – a leadership that came to an abrupt and rather humiliating end on Friday. Most observers of politics outside Wales, and plenty of people even within Wales, only really became aware of Leanne Wood after the televised leaders’ debates during the 2015 general election. By that point, she had actually been leader of her party for more than three years. Wood was a surprise leader – even to herself. First elected to the Welsh

D Reilly

The Tories’ Boris Johnson problem

I watched the Tory party conference on television this morning for as long as I could take it. Obviously I wouldn’t under normal circumstances – nobody sane would – but I’d been left in sole charge of a six-month old child (my son) and I wanted him to understand that life is very often pain. We made it through Dominic Raab’s bore-athon, but during Philip Hammond’s effort one of us filled his pants and so I turned it off. It seemed an appropriate protest. Why were the speeches so bad? And, more to the point, why did the speakers seem such unbelievable dullards? There’s no excuse. This is their job.

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: ‘Sack the woman’ – Jacob Rees-Mogg heckled at Brexit rally

It’s safe to say that Jacob Rees-Mogg isn’t keen on the Prime Minister’s Chequers plan. But Rees-Mogg has still stopped short of calling for Theresa May to go.  Some other Brexit supporters don’t agree and think it is time for Tory Brexiteers to call an end to May’s time in office. One such activist made their feelings knows at a ‘Leave means Leave’ rally on the fringes of Tory conference this evening: Rees-Mogg: ‘This is exactly what the Prime Minister said she would not do at Lancaster House.’ Heckler: ‘Sack the woman!’ RM: ‘No, no.’ Heckler: ‘Sack her now – get your letter in.’ RM: ‘Certainly not! But thank you

Steerpike Steerpike

Damian Green lashes out at Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson continues to be the target of attacks from fellow Tory MPs at the party’s conference in Birmingham, even though he’s not yet even arrived in town. Yesterday, it was Digby Jones and Philip Hammond who took a swipe at him. Today, it’s former deputy PM Damian Green. At a Spectator fringe event, Green was asked whether it is good news that Boris was ready to sing about the Tories’ achievements at party conference tomorrow: ‘I don’t think Boris is waiting in the wings. I don’t think Boris waits for anything…and tomorrow we will be having the annual Boris performance. Unfortunately, I won’t be there, as, um, I’ll be washing

James Forsyth James Forsyth

What Ruth Davidson’s speech says about the second referendum debate

For a certain wing of the Tory party, Ruth Davidson is their Queen over the water. Their fondness for her was only increased by her saying that she won’t run for leader because she cares too much for her mental health and relationship. So it was striking that the Tories decided that the best use of Davidson at this conference was to argue against a second referendum. Davidson made all the usual arguments against a second referendum with typical gusto. She argued that another Brexit vote would lead ‘to more division, more rancour and a politics trapped in the past.’ But what was most interesting was the fact that this

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Michael Gove gives Tory activists something to finally cheer about

We may have just witnessed the first outbreak of genuine interest from the Conservative conference floor. Michael Gove was speaking to the not-full room, and bookended his speech with praise for the history of the Tory party. He started by telling the hall that ‘As we know all too well from our history, if you want a mess cleared up you need a Conservative Government‘, and turned again at the end to listing Conservative achievements:  ‘Some people might say that we are setting our sights too high. To them I say, you don’t know our party. It was Conservatives who abolished the slave trade, cleared Victorian slums, made working conditions decent

Michael Gove

Full text: Michael Gove’s Conservative conference speech

Our island nation has been defined by its relationship with the sea. It has been our doorway to global trade, a treasure house of oil and gas, and the home to teeming stocks of fish. But now our oceans are in danger. Danger from climate change, from chemical residues, from exploitation and indeed from plastic. The equivalent of a dumper truck of plastic is dropped in the sea every minute of every day. Unless we change course, by the year 2050 the seas will contain more plastic than fish. We cannot, and we will not, allow that to happen. Which is why we need, in the words of Winston Churchill, action this day. And we are acting. Already

Katy Balls Katy Balls

Jacob Rees-Mogg: We need to stop the ‘Ukip-isation’ of Brexit

The star of Conservative party conference so far can’t be found in the main hall. Instead, they are best spotted at fringe events – each of which ends up being an oversubscribed event that involves a massive queue. Step forward Jacob Rees-Mogg. The arch-Brexiteer has been causing a scene wherever he goes with activists stopping him for photos. At today’s Policy Exchange fringe event – titled ‘Can the Conservatives win in Canterbury and Middlesbrough at the same time?’ – the Moggster only needed to take his seat on the panel to trigger cries of ‘Mogg for PM!’ from the audience. Although Rees-Mogg has repeatedly ruled himself out as a future

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Philip Hammond’s plan won’t help the Tories defeat Labour

Philip Hammond’s speech showed quite how insecure the Conservatives are feeling about themselves at the moment. The Chancellor was trying to defend the Tories on their more traditional ground, giving a hug-a-business speech designed to counter both Boris Johnson’s ‘f*** business’ line and the fears expressed by ministers and donors that the party has forgotten how to talk to the private sector.   He was also on the defensive after acknowledging that the Labour Party has tapped in to a genuine feeling of frustration among voters, but instead of trying to match the Opposition’s narrative, he decided to pitch the Conservatives as the party of realism. He said: ‘But let

James Forsyth James Forsyth

The problem with Philip Hammond’s speech

Tories used to laugh at Jeremy Corbyn. But today, Philip Hammond said that the questions Labour are asking ‘deserve a response.’ He acknowledged that people feel that ‘they are working for the system but the system isn’t working for them.’ Hammond tried to deliver a response based on Tory pragmatism, making the case for evolution rather than revolution. But he warned the Tories that if they ‘look for a moment like the party of “no change”’ then Corbyn will have his chance.’ The problem with Hammond’s speech, though, is that the Tories are being so incremental on domestic policy at the moment that they do risk looking like the party

Alex Massie Alex Massie

The collective nervous breakdown of the Conservative party

A week after the Labour party conference made the best available case for Theresa May’s government, it is the Conservative’s turn to persuade the country that a Labour government, compared to the alternatives available, might not be such a complete disaster after all. Such is the way of party conferences these days. And it cannot be said that the Conservative gathering in Birmingham has got off to a great start. Indeed, all the signs are that this is a party experiencing a nervous breakdown. It looks at the Labour party – a party which, tellingly, welcomed back Derek Hatton last week – and wonders why on earth it isn’t pummelling

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Liam Fox blasts ‘crazy’ Lib Dems

Liam Fox was once a minister in a Tory-Lib Dem government. But seven years is a long time in politics. Now, Fox has changed his mind about his former coalition partners, branding the Lib Dems ‘crazy’: ‘When we leave the European Union, people will no longer regard themselves as leavers or remainers, a few, mostly crazy Liberal Democrats – is there any other sort? They will be the rejoiners. But in the mainstream of our politics, there will not be many rejoiners.’ Fox’s comments on the Tory conference fringe seemed to go down well with activists. But given that Dominic Raab has used his speech today to call for ‘tolerance’

Steerpike Steerpike

Boris Johnson’s fake field of wheat

Mr S was intrigued by reports that the former foreign secretary had been photographed running through a field of wheat this morning. Was it trolling Theresa May for her infamous “fields of wheat” comments during the snap election? But on closer inspection, Boris isn’t running through a field of wheat. Indeed, the harvest has been gathered. This looks like either scrubland or a fallow field, on the basis of the plants surrounding him as he trundles along. There are the seedheads of umbellifers such as hogweed, the leaves of what looks like Field bindweed, and the seedheads of grasses, not wheat.  What can all this mean? Either Boris Johnson isn’t

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Chris Grayling fails to deliver

Chris Grayling opened his conference speech by talking about a 50 year delay. Initially he could have been mistaken for describing a standard train journey in the north of England, but he was actually congratulating the government on reaching a decision on aviation capacity.  Given the number of delays, cancellations and mistakes in his portfolio, the Transport Secretary had a pretty tough gig today. He did apologise for the disastrous changes to the timetable and promised that the same thing wouldn’t happen again. But while he claimed that the rail network did need ‘revolution’ rather than ‘evolution’, he then failed to announce anything that matched up to the noisy promises

James Forsyth James Forsyth

Dominic Raab’s conference speech won’t harm his leadership ambitions

Dominic Raab has just given an impressive, grown-up speech to Tory conference that will see his stock rise still further. The Brexit Secretary began his speech by appealing for tolerance, pointing out that there were good arguments—and good people—on both sides of the referendum campaign.  He even acknowledged that some Brexiteers had been too quick to dismiss Remain’s warnings about how difficult leaving would be. It was a reminder of how much easier it is for someone who isn’t trying to prove their Brexit credentials to adopt the emollient tone that’s needed if the country is to be brought back together. Raab walked a tightrope on Chequers, defending the principles

Dominic Raab

Full text: Dominic Raab’s Conservative conference speech

I want to start with an appeal for tolerance. We all know that Brexit is a controversial subject. It excites strong passions. But as a Party and as a country, we also need to keep a sense of proportion. Everybody had a vote. And most people have an opinion. But only a small minority think it’s worth fighting over. Except when they’re on Twitter. It’s important to remember that the person sitting next to you…On the bus into town…At your desk at work…Round the breakfast table…And, yes, here in this hall today… Many have voted the other way to you in the referendum. That’s the genius of our democracy. We

Steerpike Steerpike

Listen: Liz Truss lays into ‘Miliband-esque’ Tory policies

There’s been no short of soul-searching in Birmingham this week, as Conservatives wonder how they can challenge an increasingly threatening looking Labour party. In a speech at an Institute for Economic Affairs bash last night, Treasury minister Liz Truss thought she was able to identify the problem: ‘There are some people in Britain who say we can’t change the political weather. That Britain has become a more tax and spend country, that somehow we have to accept the inevitability of becoming a Miliband-esque, Jeremy Corbyn-esque fudge of a party, and I don’t believe in that for one minute.’ https://soundcloud.com/spectator1828/audio-2018-10-01-07-12-04 But who could Truss have possibly had in mind, as she

Steerpike Steerpike

Watch: Philip Hammond rows back on Boris criticism

It’s day two of Conservative party conference and the Tory wars are in full swing. This morning it’s the turn of Philip Hammond to cause trouble. In an interview with the Daily Mail, the Chancellor repeatedly mocked Boris Johnson, saying that his former cabinet colleague is incapable of grown-up politics. But while Hammond was happy to dish it out, on his morning broadcast round just now he seemed somewhat more shy about repeating his criticism of Boris: Asked about his criticism of Boris being incapable of grown up politics, Hammond had this to say: ‘No I didn’t say that at all. I said Boris has his own way of doing

The Spectator

Conservative party conference, day two: The Spectator guide | 1 October 2018

Brexit secretary Dominic Raab and the Chancellor Philip Hammond are the big draws on day two of the Conservative conference, but there is plenty of action on the fringes too. Here are the highlights to watch out for: Conference listings: 10.00 – 12.30 Symphony Hall AN ECONOMY THAT WORKS FOR EVERYONE Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Secretary of State for Transport Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Chancellor of the ExchequerSession to include contributions from Party members 14.00 – 16.30 Symphony Hall OPPORTUNITY FOR FUTURE GENERATIONS Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government Secretary of

Sunday

Isabel Hardman Isabel Hardman

Tories try to reinvigorate their party with money for ‘diverse’ candidates

The Tory conference hall is, so far, struggling to replicate the size and excitement of Labour’s gathering last week. This isn’t entirely the party’s fault: the venue itself might be great for listening to an orchestra, but it tends to dampen what atmosphere there is. But the decline in audience enthusiasm has been taking place over a number of years across a number of venues. The reasons for this are manifold. One is that the Tories simply do not have the grassroots membership that Labour does. Another is the way Conservatives struggle to give rousing speeches about what drives them in the way that Labourites do. Ask a Labour MP